Lawsuit says Alabama voter purge targets naturalized citizens

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Voting rights groups have filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s secretary of state over a policy they said is illegally targeting naturalized citizens for removal from voting rolls ahead of the November election.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced last month that 3,251 people who had been previously issued noncitizen identification numbers will have their voter registration status made inactive and flagged for possible removal from the voter rolls.

The lawsuit filed Friday by the Campaign Legal Center, Fair Elections Center and Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of naturalized citizens and advocacy groups says the method wrongly targets naturalized citizens who once had noncitizen identification numbers before gaining citizenship.

“Alabama is targeting its growing immigrant population through a voter purge intended to intimidate and disenfranchise naturalized citizen,” the lawsuit says.

Allen’s office had not been served with the suit and generally does not comment on lawsuits, Allen spokesperson Laney Rawls said Monday.

In announcing the voter purge, Allen acknowledged the possibility that some of the people identified had become naturalized citizens since receiving their noncitizen number. He said they would need to update their information on a state voter registration form and would be able to vote after it was

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